The present invention generally relates to remote power monitoring systems, and more particularly to a system that displays the instantaneous cost of power consumption.
There is a widespread awareness that the consumption of electrical power is increasing faster than the installed generating capacity in the United States, and that eventually there will be shortages of electrical power in many areas. Many utility companies have attempted to mitigate these circumstances by encouraging conservation of electrical power, although conservation can lead to a reduction in demand and may contravene the profit motive of a utility by reducing revenue. Conservation measures may include the use of energy efficient appliances and lighting, as well as deferring consumption to non-peak load periods. Some utility companies have adopted programs that reward the installation of insulation in homes and other buildings to reduce the energy consumed in heating and airconditioning. These large-scale conservation measures have had moderate success in reducing electrical power demand.
One aspect of electrical power conservation that is poorly exploited is education of consumers regarding the actual costs of operating lighting, appliances, heating and air conditioning. Although many individuals recognize that there is some cost involved in operating electrical devices, there is a notable lack of awareness of the specific cost associated with a particular appliance, heating device, or tool. Most consumers have a poor understanding of the relationship between power ratings in watts, power consumption in kilowatt-hours, and cost calculated in pennies per kilowatt-hour. Moreover, they generally do not pay attention to progressive rate structures that increase the cost per kilowatt-hour in accordance with the level of consumption (sometimes termed "lifeline" rates), nor do they schedule their power consumption to avoid peak load times.
For example, many individuals operate lighting and air conditioning systems in rooms and areas that are not occupied for many hours at a time, without thinking of the actual cost of this activity. Likewise, appliances such as dishwashers, laundry washers and dryers, baking and cooking appliances, and the like could be operated selectively during non-peak load periods. Instead, most individuals operate such devices based on convenience, whim, and impulse, without regard to cost or conservation. Thus there is an unmet need in the prior art for a system that will apprise individuals, particularly home dwellers, of the actual cost of the electrical power they are consuming at any given time. Such a system would result not only in more efficient use of appliances, lighting, heating, and air conditioning, but also in more effective application of progressive rate structures and peak load pricing surcharges.
There are known in the prior art many systems for remotely metering electrical power consumption by telemetering data to a central station, either over telephone lines or over the power transmission lines. These systems generally are designed for billing purposes, not for alerting the consumer to the actual cost of instantaneous power consumption. Although these prior art systems save money by eliminating manual utility meter reading, they do not interactively encourage conservation of electrical power in any direct manner.